2017 -- S 0688

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2017

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

CELEBRATING MARCH 25, 2017 AS THE 196TH ANNIVERSARY OF GREEK

INDEPENDENCE DAY

     Introduced By: Senators Raptakis, Doyle, Paiva Weed, Gallo, and Kettle

     Date Introduced: March 30, 2017

     Referred To: Recommended for Immediate Consideration

     WHEREAS, On March 25, 1821, the Feast Day of the Annunciation, the Greek nation

reclaimed its ancient heritage as the "Cradle of Democracy" by overthrowing the yoke of

oppression which had enslaved its people since the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Conquered by

the Ottoman Turks in the 15th century, Greece waged a successful War of Independence (1821-

1829) and re-instituted a democratic form of government; and

     WHEREAS, The people of the United States generously offered humanitarian assistance

to the Greek people during their struggle for independence; and

     WHEREAS, The price for Greece in holding onto our common values in their region was

high, as hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed in Greece during World War II; and

     WHEREAS, Greece is only one of three nations in the world, beyond the former British

Empire, that has been allied with the United States in every major international conflict in the last

100 years; and

     WHEREAS, The Government and people of Greece actively participate in peacekeeping

and peace-building operations conducted by international organizations, including the United

Nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the European Union, and the Organization for

Security and Co-operation in Europe, and have more recently provided critical support to the

operation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas; and

     WHEREAS, Greece, located in a region where Christianity meets Islam and Judaism,

maintains excellent relations with Muslim nations and Israel and demonstrates religious

tolerance; and

     WHEREAS, Greece and the United States are at the forefront of the effort for freedom,

democracy, peace, stability, and human rights; and

     WHEREAS, Those and similar ideas have forged a close bond between Greece and the

United States, and their people's will be celebrating the 70th Anniversary of the Truman Doctrine

in 2017, passed in 1947 to aid Greece, which was on the brink of collapse after the devastation of

the second World War. President Truman's farsighted decision to step in and assist democracies

like Greece came with the foresight to know that America's transatlantic partnerships with nations

like Greece would become the most enduring and important relationships that we have in the

world. The United States eventually gave Greece and other Western European democracies more

than two billion dollars in assistance, which in today's money amounts to more than twenty-one

billion dollars. The American aid given to Greece through military economic, and diplomatic

assistance secured Greece's place in the West and helped countless people; and

     WHEREAS, A record 1.2 million people requested asylum with the European Union in

2015. Greece faced the brunt of this exodus, receiving more than 650,000 migrants in 2015, with

asylum seekers arriving at the rate of 8,000 a day. The nation of Greece and its people have

generously assisted these applicants and have shown great compassion for them as they seek out a

better life for themselves, one filled with personal freedom and economic security. We all owe a

debt of gratitude to the Greek people; and

     WHEREAS, March 25, 2017, Greek Independence Day, marks the 196th anniversary of

the beginning of the revolution that freed the Greek people from the Ottoman Empire and

celebrates the aspirations for democracy and tolerance that the peoples of Greece and the United

States share; and

     WHEREAS, The Government of Greece has taken important steps in recent years to

improve relations with other countries in the region. Greece Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias, in a

recent two-day visit to the United States, highlighted Greece's value as a bastion of stability in a

volatile area, the need for security in the region, and outlined the importance of the ties Greece

has nurtured with key ally Cyprus and other nations in the region including Israel, Egypt,

Lebanon and Jordan; and

     WHEREAS, It is proper and desirable for the United States to celebrate this anniversary

with the Greek people and to reaffirm the democratic principles from which these two great

nations were born; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

hereby celebrates March 25, 2017, as the 196th Anniversary of Greek Independence, reaffirms

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Rhode Island's abiding commitment to the magnificent principles of democracy and religious

freedom, and urges Turkey to respect the rights and religious freedoms of the Ecumenical

Patriarchate; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church of

Cranston, the Assumption Greek Orthodox Church of Pawtucket, the St. Spyridon Greek

Orthodox Church of Newport, the members of the Rhode Island Congressional Delegation, and

Archbishop Demetrios of the Greek Archdiocese of America.

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